UK Pirate Party shuts Pirate Bay proxy after BPI legal threat

BPI has received signed confirmations from Pirate Party UK executives that they will remove proxy access from their website to blocked file-sharing site The Pirate Bay.

The move appears to have taken immediate effect with the proxy already disabled.

BPI wrote to Pirate Party UK to try to resolve the matter of the proxy amicably at the end of November. However, the Pirate Party UK indicated that it had no intention of removing the proxy while The Pirate Bay remained blocked by the High Court.

On Friday, December 14 2012, Pirate Party UK confirmed to BPI that the executives would be providing written confirmations that they would remove The Pirate Bay proxy. But Pirate Party UK continued to solicit donations from the public for a planned “legal challenge” on their website and in the media.

BPI has said it was “dismayed” to read subsequent allegations made by leader of the Pirate Party UK Loz Kaye that BPI was “threatening to bankrupt me and other party officers.”

The BPI said that the allegations were untrue saying, “At no time did BPI make any threats about bankruptcy or even seek damages from Pirate Party UK or members of its National Executive. When pressed, Loz Kaye was forced to deny these claims and acknowledged that he had not been threatened with bankruptcy.”

Speaking of the UK Pirate Party’s proxy takedown, BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said: “We asked Pirate Party UK to remove the proxy because The Pirate Bay is an illegal site that is undermining the growth of legal digital music services.

“We believe its executives should respect the law, and the basic right of creative people to be paid for their work. There are many fantastic digital music services that make it simple to get music legally online.

“This outcome will help ensure that this new digital sector in the UK can grow, continue to innovate for music fans, and create more UK jobs.”